Energy Speaker Systems
EFX
Surround Speakers

Product Description

User Reviews

Overall Rating:

Value Rating:

Submitted by
Steve
a Audio Enthusiast

Date Reviewed: April 21, 2002

Bottom Line:

Recently purchased the Energy Take 5.2 from www.acousticsounddesign.com (they were great to deal with - would recommend.) They are terrific little speakers. The sound is crisp and rather full for such small speakers. I would recommend them to anyone with a small to moderately sized room.

I bought the EFX's for a Pro Logic setup. Because of the hassle of changing to new speakers, I kept them when I went to Dolby Digital. I am still very happy with the overall sound. I prefer the diffuse dipole configuration for surrounds. They lack strong bass response and the high frequency response is skewed in the on-axis measurement because of the speaker configuration. The tweeters are mounted on panels that aim 45 degrees in front of and behind the listening position, which improves the ambiance, but diminishes the perceived high frequency response. I don't have a receiver which can play 5 channel stereo, but I would probably not recommend the EFXs for such a setup. They sound great with movies, particularly since most movies don't use the surrounds too much. Even The Matrix sounds incredible with the EFXs. Overall, a good speaker and an excellent value.

I've used these speakers for a couple of years already and have been happy with them. I tested out monopole speakers in their place, and I see the attraction of monopoles for effects in Dolby Digital and DTS. Still, I prefer the more enveloping, less localizing sound of dipole with 5.1 movies (at least until a 3rd rear channel comes into use), and I believe dipoles are much better for Dolby Pro Logic. Anyway, these speakers are solidly built and really create a room-filling, movie-theater-like feel. Unfortunately, they are no longer made, but I'm sure the new Energy dipole model will also sound excellent.